The first thing I did when getting started was I jumped in with both feet. I had no idea that I’d have my first offer in and accepted within 90 days, but I did know that I didn’t want to dilly dally around and over analyze things and drag it out a really long time like I did with my first rental house.
In that situation I spent far too much time analyzing “things†and learning “things†instead of acting, and that delayed my actually getting started, which I defined as getting out and looking at properties, for almost a year. What a waste of time.
All because of a fear of the unknown.
Thankfully I learned from that experience, and as I built on it, I realized that the key for me was, getting to that first cash flow check as soon as possible. No matter what it took to get there.
So I started to search around for information. I was certainly not the first person ever to decide that I wanted to buy an apartment building with no prior experience, so I figured that a smart course of action would be to learn from those people that had done it before me.
So I searched the internet and library for resources, and I couldn’t find anything that would take me from knowing absolutely nothing to closing on my first building. Sure there were bits and pieces, and good bits and pieces at that, but nothing that fit exactly what I was looking for.
So I started by consuming all the free information that I could, and unfortunately I came to the conclusion rather quickly that free information is usually not worth what you pay for it. So since I still had a knowledge gap I made the decision to buy training.
But what to by? How much to buy? From where? For how much money? All important questions that needed to be answered, especially with all the products and services that were out there screaming for attention.
The answer ended up being crystal clear – after I decided on and defined my purpose.
I’ll talk about that choice and decision in my next post.
